Thoughts on Swiss school

This week is the last week of school and as the kids are winding down they are coming home with lots of stuff from the school year. It's probably more fascinating to me than to most parents around here because I'm learning how they do things. I'd say overall I'm a fan of the Swiss school system. I just wish I understood a little bit more French.

At the end of each semester the kids evaluate themselves on different areas. When they are finished the teacher does the same thing. You can see Alex's evaluation on the left and his teacher's on the right. I love it that they use faces to describe how they are doing. Frowny face for bad, straight face for OK, and a happy face for great. If only life was always that simple.

One thing that they focus on here that they have sort of let go in the US is penmanship. I can remember working on my cursive and getting graded on my penmanship. I'm not sure if they still do that in school, but I do know that fewer and fewer kids in the US use cursive, including myself. Alex started cursive this year and I will readily admit that his is already better than mine.


This is a test that Alex had to take on the kangaroo. He studied the kangaroo, along with other things in Australia, for weeks. I was surprised at the details that the first graders had to know. One day Alex came home from school and informed me that he knew more about the kangaroo than I did. No argument from me there.

One thing that they take very seriously over here is physical fitness. In first grade, each child is issued one of these books and each week in gym class they have to pass off different activities. Some of them are self explanatory and others are a little more interesting. They will continue passing them off next year in second grade. The ones that were especially funny to me were the winter sports (this year Alex went ice skating and next year he will go skiing) and all of the swimming activities.

Our beach

We haven't officially started our summer break yet, but we took advantage of a warm Saturday to go to our version of the beach. The city of Rolle has one of the only "sandy" beaches we have discovered on Lake Geneva. It's not the sand we are used to, but the kids can still dig in the dirt and build castles...if Henry will let them.

If you are wondering about the trees in the background, it is kind of a combination beach/park. The sand goes right up to a grassy area with trees and there is also a playground.

In the background of this picture you can see France. One side of Lake Geneva is in Switzerland and if you cross over to the other side you are in France.

Henry loves his goggles even though they just stay around his neck most of the time.

Alex and Ruby working on a wall to protect their future castle from the lake water

What they need is protection from the water in Henry's bucket

Slow learner

I'm not sure why it has taken me so long, but I have finally become acquainted with the Manor. My friend Sarah has been a frequent visitor to Manor on Friday evenings, but our family just went for the first time a couple of weeks ago when I decided I could not cook one more dinner.

I guess I should mention that we rarely go out for dinner here. The first reason being that most restaurants don't open until 7 pm (the time our kids go to bed) and second it's too expensive. It's not like we ate out on a regular basis in the US, but at least when I was burnt out on cooking there were lots of cheap, easy options like Wendy's or Del Taco. We could even go to Pick up Stix or Rubio's if we had a little more time. (I'm drooling just thinking about both of those places by the way.)

Anyway, there is a restaurant here called Manor. Not only is it open early for dinner, but it is affordable (a kid's meal is less than a happy meal at McDonald's) and there is a great big playground outside for the kids. Now that we've discovered it, I'm sure you will find us here a lot more often when the weather is nice.

The kids love this pirate ship. Ruby is steering and Alex is standing at the bow.

Ruby giving Henry a boost

Here we go!

I think Ruby may be part monkey

Why this post?

Because sometimes I need a reminder of how sweet my kids can be to each other

Top ten

About a week ago, an article entitled, "The World's Best Places to Live 2009" caught my eye. After reading it I felt pretty good about our current situation considering that 3 of the top ten cities were in Switzerland.

#2 Zurich, Switzerland
About a week ago, an article entitled, "The World's Best Places to Live 2009" caught my eye. After reading it I felt pretty good about our current situation considering that 3 of the top ten cities were in Switzerland.

#3 Geneva, Switzerland

#4 Bern, Switzerland

As I continued down the list I was surprised not to see any US cities...especially after I kept passing cities in Canada (sorry Pete and Peter Harker). I know I'm biased, but the US is a great place to live and I can think of lots of great cities that could have been chosen. It wasn't until I reached #29 that we made the list with...

Honolulu, Hawaii

I have to admit that I was a little disappointed (even though Hawaii is a great place), but after reading the list I walked away pretty smug because we live in the third best place in the world.
Then a couple of days later Pete forwarded me a link to another article. This one, entitled "The Most Expensive Cities in the World" by a Mr. Bruce Einhorn, really burst my bubble. Once again, 3 cities in Switzerland made the top ten, with Geneva being the most expensive. In order to see some of the differences between Switzerland and the US, I've decided to add some facts from the article. The amounts listed have been converted to US dollars and in case you didn't know what a quick lunch is (I didn't), it's more than Rubio's but not as fancy as Roy's.

8. Geneva, Switzerland
2008 rank: 6
Movie ticket:14.07 (this is a lie...tickets here are around 20)
Quick lunch: 27.57
Washing machine: 1213.67 (this is for an average machine not top of the line)
Kilo of rice: 3.48
Can of soft drink: 1.02 (another lie...I've never paid this little for a soda)

9. Zurich, Switzerland
2008 rank:8
Movie ticket: 14.11
Quick lunch: 21.56

Washing machine: 978.45
Kilo of rice: 2.79
Can of soft drink: 0.99

10. Basel, Switzerland

2008 rank:9
Movie ticket: 13.73
Quick lunch: 21.15
Washing machine: 744.59
Kilo of rice: 3.01
Can of soft drink: 1.03

17. Manhattan, New York
2008 rank: 84
Movie ticket: 12.07
Quick lunch: 18.61
Washing machine: 1111.85
Kilo of rice: 5.01
Can of soft drink: 1.49

25. Honolulu, Hawaii
2008 rank: 88
Movie ticket: 9.36
Quick lunch: 20.88
Washing machine: 898.85
Kilo of rice: 4.01
Can of soft drink: 1.28

My first thought after seeing these numbers is that an amazing place to live comes at a high price. This thinking is definitely false. There weren't any cities in Southern California that made either of these two lists, but I think many of you would agree with me that it is pretty awesome to live there. A lot of times places seem very exotic and dreamy, but in the end home is where the heart is, or so I've heard.

Fluent at four

Ruby memorized a poem at school for Mother's Day. It looks like she's reading but she can't read in French yet. Don't you love the accent?

Grocery shopping

I realized that it's been awhile since I've taken you on any Swiss adventures. In order to remedy that, I'm taking you grocery shopping with me. That may sound a little boring to you but it's actually quite the adventure. Just keep in mind that 1 Kg = 2.2 Lbs, 500 grams = 1 pound, and 1 liter = 4.2 cups. Don't forget your reusable bags and your money for the shopping cart. The conversion rate of dollar to Swiss franc is about 1 to 1, so let's go.

First I thought we'd select some yummy steaks. They are 30% of this week which means you can get a whole kg for only 24.50. Oh and I guess I should mention that they are horse.

For those of you who love to barbecue, here is a nice grill sample for only 25 francs. Delish!

This one is a personal favorite of mine-bacon on a stick. Does it get any better than that?

This is a new one I haven't seen before. This week they are sponsoring yummy delicacies from Portugal. You can get some sardines flown in fresh for only 1.35.

OK, OK. I realize you may not have as exotic tastes as me. You want something familiar and simple like chicken. You are in luck. This week it is on sale and you can get 4 chicken breast for only 21 francs. Wow.

Switzerland is famous for it's chocolate. What would a trip to the store be without picking up a little bit? This is one of the best deals I've seen today. Instead of paying 30 francs for a bag of minis, you can get it for only 20. Don't worry that it's only the store brand. Store brand chocolate over here is about 1,000 times better than Hershey.

Moms you are about to get a sweet deal. Instead of paying 80 francs for 168 diapers (or 90 francs for 144 of the more expensive brand), they are only 54 francs! With that extra 25 -30 francs you will almost have enough money to treat your kids to McDonald's.

You can keep saving if you buy toothbrushes today. 3 for 10 francs instead of 15!

OK, I realize you can't get this at the grocery store. It is mail order only but doesn't it look awesome? If you ever have cold or wet boots, problem solved!

To Pete

Happy Flag Day!

Cooling off

I'm not really a cave person. They are dark, dirty and usually a bit smelly. This one wasn't too bad and it actually felt great to cool off for a little while. The temperature inside is 60 degrees year round and it was 95 outside. One of Pete's highlights was seeing the root of a tree that had grown about 100 feet through the ground above and then down through the cave.

Henry and Pete on the look out for bears

Alex was amazed that this rock was just hanging in the air

Ruby doo

Exploring the cave

Livvie, Baby Sadie and April

Provence #2

On Saturday, we drove about 40 minutes south to visit the city of Arles. Back in it's prime, Arles was an important stop on the Roman road from Italy to Spain. Later is was home to Vincent Van Gogh. Unfortunately much of the city was destroyed during World War II, although there are still some amazing Roman ruins.

My favorite thing was the Saturday morning market. Pete and Josh were nice and took the kids to a nearby park so that April and I could walk through the markets with our wits about us. The market spanned both sides of one long street and there were a lot of fun things to browse.

Livvie and Ruby pulling Cinderella's pumpkin carriage

Henry and Alex flying high

Josh stepping off after getting a little motion sick

Beep, beep!

Alex takes a turn bullriding

A European version of the teacups

While we were gone, Henry got a bloody lip and...

...Ruby had to get creative on these unique "frog" toilets.

Afterwards we all met up and ate lunch overlooking the Roman Arena

Livvie loves chocolate ice cream
"Chocolate, chocolate, stir stir the chocolate..."

The Roman Amphitheater is about 2000 years old and once hosted gladiators. Today it is used for bullgames ...not to be confused with the violent, bloody bullfights in Spain.

Pete and the kids cheering on the gladiators

The Romans were amazing builders. Period.

A view of the arena from one of the towers. All of the kids were tough and climbed many stairs up to the top.

View of Arles

"I'm hot"

"It's bright"

"We love Provence!"